Abortion rates plummet with free birth control

[Joecooool]

Abortion rates plummet with free birth control | e! Science News

You religious folks should then support it.

Published: Thursday, October 4, 2012 - 19:36 in Health & Medicine

Providing birth control to women at no cost substantially reduced unplanned pregnancies and cut abortion rates by 62 percent to 78 percent over the national rate, a new study shows. The research, by investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, appears online Oct. 4 in Obstetrics & Gynecology.

Among a range of birth control methods offered in the study, most women chose long-acting methods like intrauterine devices (IUDs) or implants, which have lower failure rates than commonly used birth control pills. In the United States, IUDs and implants have high up-front costs that sometimes aren't covered by health insurance, making these methods unaffordable for many women.

"The impact of providing no-cost birth control was far greater than we expected in terms of unintended pregnancies," says lead author Jeff Peipert, MD, PhD, the Robert J. Terry Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology. "We think improving access to birth control, particularly IUDs and implants, coupled with education on the most effective methods has the potential to significantly decrease the number of unintended pregnancies and abortions in this country."

Unintended pregnancies are a major problem in the United States. Each year, about 50 percent of all U.S. pregnancies are unplanned, far higher than in other developed countries. About half of these pregnancies result from women not using contraception and half from incorrect or irregular use.

The Contraceptive Choice Project enrolled 9,256 women and adolescents in the St. Louis area between 2007 and 2011. Participants were 14-45 years of age, at risk for unintended pregnancy, and willing to start a new contraceptive method.

Participants had their choice of birth control methods, ranging from long-acting forms like IUDs and implants to shorter-acting methods such as birth control pills, patches and rings.

The women were counseled about the different methods, including their effectiveness, risks and benefits. The extremely low failure rate (less than 1 percent) of IUDs and implants over that of shorter-acting forms (8 percent to 10 percent) was emphasized. In all, about 75 percent of women in the study chose IUDs or implants.

From 2008 to 2010, annual abortion rates among study participants ranged from 4.4 to 7.5 per 1,000 women. This is a substantial drop (62 percent to 78 percent) over the national rate of 19.6 abortions per 1,000 women in 2008, the latest year for which figures are available.

The lower abortion rates among CHOICE participants also is considerably less than the rates in St. Louis city and county, which ranged from 13.4 to 17 per 1,000 women, for the same years.

Among girls ages 15-19 who had access to free birth control provided in the study, the annual birth rate was 6.3 per 1,000, far below the U.S. rate of 34.3 per 1,000 for girls the same age.

While birth control pills are the most commonly used contraceptive in the United Sates, their effectiveness hinges on women remembering to take a pill every day and having easy access to refills.

In contrast, IUDs and implants are inserted by health-care providers and are effective for 5 to 10 years and 3 years, respectively. Despite their superior effectiveness over short-term methods, only a small percentage of U.S. women using contraception choose these methods. Many can't afford the cost of IUDs and implants, which can cost more than $800 and may not be covered by insurance.

"Unintended pregnancy remains a major health problem in the United States, with higher proportions among teenagers and women with less education and lower economic status," Peipert says. "The results of this study demonstrate that we can reduce the rate of unintended pregnancy and this is key to reducing abortions in this country."

[Stangkiller]

There's nothing free in the world. I'm so glad i'm paying for irresponsible peoples recreational activities. F'k them all.

[mrvette]

Pay for the BC or pay for the unwanted kids for 20 years at 100x the price.....simple choice to ME, and I don't understand that it's not been normal for decades already....but most of the bitches on AFDC WANT the extra money...SO have 8 kids.....

[Stangkiller]

Originally Posted by mrvette

Pay for the BC or pay for the unwanted kids for 20 years at 100x the price.....simple choice to ME, and I don't understand that it's not been normal for decades already....but most of the bitches on AFDC WANT the extra money...SO have 8 kids.....

How about have a kid you can't afford, go to jail for child neglect?

[mrvette]

Originally Posted by Stangkiller

How about have a kid you can't afford, go to jail for child neglect?

Jails are overcrowded already, no more room, they letting out hardened criminals and child molesters because of it NOW.....

the shituation is stupid already, no question about it, damn if I know a solution.....

[Stangkiller]

Originally Posted by mrvette

Jails are overcrowded already, no more room, they letting out hardened criminals and child molesters because of it NOW.....

the shituation is stupid already, no question about it, damn if I know a solution.....

No way should I pay for somebody BC because they're irresponsible. and No way should I pay to raise a kid because somebody is irresponsible.

Many of my friends are having kids right now. And as much as I'd like to be doing the same, I know I can't afford to support raising a child in the manner I'd be comfortable with. SO I'm not having kids right now. It's not that tough of a concept.

[Joecooool]

Originally Posted by Stangkiller

No way should I pay for somebody BC because they're irresponsible. and No way should I pay to raise a kid because somebody is irresponsible.

Many of my friends are having kids right now. And as much as I'd like to be doing the same, I know I can't afford to support raising a child in the manner I'd be comfortable with. SO I'm not having kids right now. It's not that tough of a concept.

So whats your solution Chris? Tell poor people not to fuk? Good luck with that.

[Stangkiller]

Originally Posted by Joecooool

So whats your solution Chris? Tell poor people not to fuk? Good luck with that.

Hold them accountable and responsible for their offspring. They have kids they can't afford, assist them with an adoption. But they risk losing ALL government assistance if they continue to reproduce if they're living on the government dole. We need to stop ***** footing around this, we're only paying for more and more irresponsible behavior, it needs to stop.

If I had even half of the 10's of thousands of dollars I pay to the government in taxes, I could certainly afford to have my own kids. Instead I'm paying all these taxes so other people can have their kids. That's not right.

[Craig]

Originally Posted by mrvette

Pay for the BC or pay for the unwanted kids for 20 years at 100x the price.....simple choice to ME, and I don't understand that it's not been normal for decades already....but most of the bitches on AFDC WANT the extra money...SO have 8 kids.....

It's a shame we can't convince people to stop being skanks.

[Stangkiller]

Originally Posted by Craig

It's a shame we can't convince people to stop being skanks.

Convince them? Hell we're rewarding their behavior.

[Joecooool]

Originally Posted by Stangkiller

Hold them accountable and responsible for their offspring. They have kids they can't afford, assist them with an adoption. But they risk losing ALL government assistance if they continue to reproduce if they're living on the government dole. We need to stop ***** footing around this, we're only paying for more and more irresponsible behavior, it needs to stop.

If I had even half of the 10's of thousands of dollars I pay to the government in taxes, I could certainly afford to have my own kids. Instead I'm paying all these taxes so other people can have their kids. That's not right.

The only ones that suffer when the money dries up are the kids. If you don't want to pay to feed and house them than you sure as shit should be ecstatic to see a miniscule amount of your taxes go to pay for birth control.

I don't have any kids and I pay a shit ton of money for education. I don't bitch about that because in the future I will benefit from an educated work force. You should look at paying taxes for birth control in the same way.

And honestly, do you really think they could adopt out all the millions of kids that poor people crank out?

Poor people are going to fuk, you will never in a million years stop that. The only logical solution is to subsidize birth control.

[Stangkiller]

Originally Posted by Joecooool

The only ones that suffer when the money dries up are the kids. If you don't want to pay to feed and house them than you sure as shit should be ecstatic to see a miniscule amount of your taxes go to pay for birth control.

I don't have any kids and I pay a shit ton of money for education. I don't bitch about that because in the future I will benefit from an educated work force. You should look at paying taxes for birth control in the same way.

And honestly, do you really think they could adopt out all the millions of kids that poor people crank out?

Poor people are going to fuk, you will never in a million years stop that. The only logical solution is to subsidize birth control.

It's called consequences. We need to stop rewarding irresponsible parents. There are consequences for your actions. If we keep rewarding the irresponsible behavior, we'll keep getting irresponsible behavior. The kids aren't the only ones who suffer, the parents will too, they'll lose their Section 8 housing, foodstamps, O-phone, and other benefits. Guess what they'll either be on the street, or they'll get a job. I don't care, but it's not fair for the rest of us to keep paying for them.

[Stangkiller]

Originally Posted by Joecooool

The only ones that suffer when the money dries up are the kids. If you don't want to pay to feed and house them than you sure as shit should be ecstatic to see a miniscule amount of your taxes go to pay for birth control.

I don't have any kids and I pay a shit ton of money for education. I don't bitch about that because in the future I will benefit from an educated work force. You should look at paying taxes for birth control in the same way.

And honestly, do you really think they could adopt out all the millions of kids that poor people crank out?

Poor people are going to fuk, you will never in a million years stop that. The only logical solution is to subsidize birth control.

I'm sure it's a whole lot cheaper to pay for a foster home for kids, than it is to pay for dead beat parents to raise their offspring. I'm sure we could get some economies of scale out of it.

[VITE1]

Originally Posted by Joecooool

So whats your solution Chris? Tell poor people not to fuk? Good luck with that.

Let them DIE.

It worked for thousands of years. it's called DARWINISM.

[Fasglas]

Originally Posted by mrvette

Pay for the BC or pay for the unwanted kids for 20 years at 100x the price.....simple choice to ME, and I don't understand that it's not been normal for decades already....but most of the bitches on AFDC WANT the extra money...SO have 8 kids.....

I resent paying for BC/someone else's kids, at ANY point in their lives.

Expecting otherwise is the height of arrogance.

YOU worry about them? YOU pay for them...

Sitting around calling them names serves no purpose...

[VITE1]

Originally Posted by TxAg

Do as he says, not as he does.

He fails to realize that the massive growth in single motherhood started DIRECTLY after welfare started. Before that rates remained almost unchanged except it times of massive social upheaval.

[Doug28450]

Originally Posted by TxAg

Sounds like some shovel ready jobs in the pipeline to build more.

Maybe some of those private, for-profit jails.

[Stangkiller]

Originally Posted by Doug28450

Maybe some of those private, for-profit jails.

How about a deserted island and a 1 way ticket there? They can have all the sex they want...i doubt they'd live 9 months to have a kid anyways.

[Stangkiller]

Originally Posted by TxAg

Paging Australia....

Too big and too much fresh water.

[Giraffe (He/Him)]

Originally Posted by VITE1

Let them DIE.

It worked for thousands of years. it's called DARWINISM.

Nope. It's called ridiculous. Let them DIE?